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Getting Started with Farm to Preschool

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The most common questions that arise about Farm to Preschool are “What is it?” quickly followed by “How do we even start?” Luckily there are a ton of great resources available, and we’ve some boots-on-the-ground experience to share with you from our Farm to Preschool Project in SW Colorado.

In short, what is Farm to Preschool? 

  • The best food, as local as possible, and time in the garden for our youngest children’s health and their future.
  • Extending the benefits of K-12 Farm to School programs to our youngest children.
  • A movement to make Farm to Preschool an integral part of the overall Farm to School movement.
  • Caring enough—as a whole community—for our children to do this right and do it now!

With facts like “up to 80% of children’s nutrition is obtained in the preschool setting” and “Farm to School programs result in children consuming 1 to 1.3 more servings of fruits and vegetables per day,” it is obvious WHY Farm to Preschool is important. Even here in Colorado, often considered the “leanest state in the nation,” there is an obesity crisis for both adults and children. Farm to Preschool projects can help by establishing good eating habits and relationships with food at the most formative age.

Our Getting Started with Farm to Preschool infographic (also below) is a great visual aid when grappling with the question of how to start a program in your area, whether you are a teacher, parent, or community member. To see how we started Farm to Preschool in SW Colorado, see our Special Report, “The Promise of Farm to Preschool in Southwest Colorado,” and find more project information as well as resources and project materials our website.

We invite you to join us in our efforts to spread Farm to Preschool as widely, and quickly, as possible. Our kids deserve it.

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The Promise of Farm to Preschool in Southwest Colorado

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No Child Without a GardenFarm to Preschool in Southwest Colorado is really gaining steam. Our HCFS Special Report, “The Promise of Farm to Preschool in Southwest Colorado,” explores the reasoning behind and importance of Farm to Preschool and describes our activities and findings so far in SW Colorado.

We started our Southwest Colorado Farm to Preschool project in 2014 by meeting with several childcare centers and home-based childcare providers in La Plata County. Many centers and providers were already pioneering what are considered Farm to Preschool activities – serving local food, garden activities, edible education – but hadn’t known they were considered such. Through many meetings and ongoing discussions, we’ve developed resources and project materials that are applicable beyond La Plata County, including:

We encourage you to use and adapt our resources for use in your own community. We owe it to our children to spread successful Farm to Preschool as fast and as far as possible.

 

Multisolving in Paris

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1299244651727919479eiffel-tower-973-2560x1600-hiA bright young Dartmouth grad turned up at our Old Snowmass office of Rocky Mountain Institute years ago when I ran the water and agriculture programs there. Schooled in systems dynamics, fueled with ideas and idealism, and without a ride home (did I mention he was confident), we quickly added him to our team.

Fast forward, Drew Jones is now with his Climate Interactive team at the Paris climate talks, providing real-time projections to delegates and the public of how various nations’ pledges to cut emissions would affect our world’s temperature in 2100. As this seven-minute video clearly indicates, the pledges already brought to the table go a long way to reducing that temperature rise and show an encouraging willingness to tackle this huge problem. The other clear message in the video is that these initial pledges must be implemented now and followed by continued serious reductions, and on an aggressive timescale — a good example of the need for “Getting Serious Now.”

But how? Leaving fossil fuels in the ground, changing our expectations of “the good life”, upending our travelling habits — daunting tasks that require a much different public will than we have now. In response, Drew’s Climate interactive team uses the term Multisolving to describe climate solutions that help solve other problems at the same time. Wendell Berry calls this seeking “whole solutions.” It’s at the core of permaculture systems. Many call it a “win-win” approach, or in some respects a “no regrets” strategy. We at HCFS see the development of healthy local food systems as multisolving for good food for all, while addressing local economic woes, biodiversity losses, rising health care costs, climate change, and other environmental crises.

I don’t think we need other benefits to justify taking aggressive action on climate change, but in a less-than-perfect world, those collateral benefits may well be the key to generating the requisite public will — and to creating a bit-more-perfect world at the same time.

Farm to School Gardens & Native American Heritage Month

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November is Native American Heritage month, and Farm to School programs are an excellent place to showcase this heritage. Traditional Native foods in school gardens and cafeterias can have a profound impact on nutrition and culture alike.

Last May in Chicago I was privileged to to meet with young people working in Native American communities across the country on Farm to School gardens.  The cultural richness of these gardens – in terms of varieties grown, production methods, and food preparation – is truly inspiring.   I must say that some of the best Native garden examples are right here in the Southwest, as described in this summary from Food Corps Arizona – Farm to School in Native Communities: A New Name for an Ancient Practice

Giving Thanks with Local Food at Durango 9-R Schools

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ThanksgivingLunchWe in La Plata County are blessed with a robust Farm to School program, thanks to the hard work and tenacity of many individuals. Being the mom of a preschooler attending Durango 9-R Preschool, I was able to experience that firsthand yesterday at the Thanksgiving Lunch sponsored at the Durango 9-R schools. The highlights of the meal were the real turkey that was cooked at the cafeteria, mashed local potatoes and gravy, and a roasted local root vegetable medley. My kid gobbled it up – roasted carrots, beets, turnips, onions, rutabagas, and all (followed by the pumpkin custard, of course).

What does it take to put on an event like this? Dedication and hard work on the part of the food service staff, certainly, but in terms of quantity, 2100 lbs of potatoes and 1210 lbs of root vegetables were ordered from local growers. That sounds like a lot of vegetables, but consider during the 2013-2014 school year, Durango 9-R purchased over 19,000 lbs of local produce (and pancake mix) from 17 local farmers. This year, they’ve purchased local cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, apples, peppers, kale, and beef from local farmers for other meals. One such meal was the Harvest Stew for Colorado Proud Day.

Thanksgiving represents a wonderful intersection of food and giving thanks. I’m thankful for our local farmers and ranchers; I’m thankful for what local food, and the education surrounding it, can do for our kids; I’m thankful to know my kid’s school district sees the importance of local food. Will you have local food on your table at Thanksgiving? It’s worth it, trust me.

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Roasted Local Root Vegetables – Carrots, Beets, Onions, Rutabagas, & Turnips
Local foods are served on more than just special occasions, as this menu from October shows.
Local foods are served on more than just special occasions, as this menu from October shows.
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Farm to School makes news in the Durango Herald.
Whether you are a parent, teacher, or concerned community member, the Farm to School and Farm to Preschool movements can’t exist without your help.  Contact us to see how you can make a difference, get news via our Farm to Preschool newsletter, and follow us on our outreach campaign: Getting Serious Now on Facebook.

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